Medical tests are routinely performed on patients for purposes such as the detection and analysis of disease conditions and monitoring of disease progression. Such medical tests include lab tests, diagnostic examinations by a physician or other medical practitioner, such as a veterinarian, and diagnostic images of a patient's body parts and associated measurements, among other things.
Lab tests generally involve the analysis of the patient's bodily fluids or tissue, which may be removed by a biopsy or other means. Such tests generally result in a report analyzing the fluid or tissue, which may contain, for example, a number of quantitative measurements stated in the form of a report. Such a report may also indicate normal ranges for such measurements for the overall population or for a segment of the population to which the patient belongs (such as males aged 20-29). Reports may be entered and stored in a laboratory information system (LIS) in electronic form and include patient identifying information such as the patient's name and a unique ID code or number used to identify the patient. A medical practitioner may review the lab test report and generate a further report stating any conclusion about disease or other abnormal conditions evidenced by the lab test. Such findings, including any diagnoses or determinations of medical conditions, may be entered into an associated diagnostic report.
A diagnostic examination by a medical practitioner may involve the use of various medical instruments, such as a stethoscope, otoscope or microscope, and result in a written diagnostic report stating the observed or measured results, including quantitative measurements, such as blood pressure. A diagnostic report may include conclusions, or diagnoses, as to whether any abnormal conditions or diseases may be indicated by the results. A diagnostic examination of biopsied tissue may result in a pathology report, which is one type of diagnostic report.
Medical images of a patient's body are generally taken by a technician using an imaging modality, such as an x-ray machine or a magnetic resonance imaging device. At a single imaging session, one or more diagnostic images of one or more body parts may be taken and recorded. Such diagnostic images may then be printed and provided to a medical practitioner directly, or entered into a picture archiving and communication system (PACS) for later access by a medical practitioner. A medical practitioner, such as a radiologist, will generally then review the diagnostic images, possibly in conjunction with prior related diagnostic images and/or test reports, and produce a diagnostic report.
In general, the resulting diagnostic reports containing patient identifying information and the date(s) of the test may also be entered into a medical information system (MIS), such as a radiology information system (RIS), a LIS, an Electronic Medical Record system (EMR), a Electronic Health Record system (EHR) or a Personal Health Record system (PHR), in electronic form as electronic medical records. In general, each test, and the associated reports, may include words and/or one or more codes that indicate the examination type (such as MRI images), the body part(s) examined or affected (e.g. lingual of left lung), numerical data that reflect analysis, and a diagnosis indicating a medical condition or pathological entity (e.g. primary adenocarcinoma).
Multiple tests may be performed on a single patient resulting in various diagnostic images and test reports related to multiple body parts, possibly including multiple diagnostic images and test reports for the same body part performed at the same or different times. The diagnostic images and reports may be stored in multiple computer systems. The resulting volume and location(s) of the information recorded for a patient can make it difficult for a medical practitioner to efficiently review a patient's history and identify all relevant conditions that have been diagnosed without missing any significant findings. The nature of the information also makes it very difficult or impossible for the patient to review and understand the meaning of the test results.